Chinese engineers connect the tubes

According to international media reports, a wedge section, which measured 12 m in length, was lowered to connect the tubes that will form the 6.7 km tunnel section of the bridge.

Before the installation of the wedge, 33 immersed tubes, each 180 m long and weighing 80,000 tonnes, had been installed.

Media reports say the engineers utilised a floating crane to lift the wedge, before lowering it to the desired destination between the tubes. As the margin of error for the wedge was 1.5 cm, the installation procedure had to measure the influence of wind, current and buoyancy force.

According to media reports, the wedge will be welded and finished in June 2017, with the bridge opening to traffic by the end of the year.

Guo Wanda, executive vice president of the Shenzhen-based China Development Institute, reportedly said the area would become an important hub for the One Belt, One Road initiative.